


The Planets Align

by cuddlepunk



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Aliens, Gen, Halloween, i so didnt edit this but whatever, thats mostly it, they kinda talk about suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:10:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8438011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlepunk/pseuds/cuddlepunk
Summary: pete is an alien who lands in joe's back yard and they have a chill, self deprecating conversation its p cool





	

Living on the outskirts of a thick dark wood forest means Joe’s backyard has the clearest night skies, if not the most dense mosquito populations. He often finds himself silently thanking the wide trunk trees for cleaning the air, for letting him see so many stars at night. However, he can’t bring himself to thank the mosquitoes. He lights some bug repelling incense next to him before laying down on his back porch.  
Midterms start tomorrow, and it’s all he can think about. Sleep is irrelevant, the goosebumps covering his arms and legs are irrelevant, everything is irrelevant. He’s done all he can do, now it’s just waiting for tomorrow and actually doing it. That feeling of complete helplessness in the calm before the storm washes over him. Nothing can shock him.  
The smoke twists, white wispy hands reaching up for far off nebulae before dissipating into the night’s blanket of darkness. It smells potent and sour, no wonder the bugs leave him alone. The scent is so familiar to Joe, though, only bringing back memories. Waves of chilly forest air wash across Joe’s spread out body and engulf him in familiar numbness. Crickets and frogs sing from safe nooks in the welcoming woods. Light blues and bright whites splatter across the night sky, sparkling brighter and more brilliant than daylight’s sun. Fluttering branches and jittery leaves bring sounds of much the same, and add fuzziness to the end of his vision.

 

Suddenly, Joe’s night sky is interrupted. Something fluorescent shoots across the atmosphere, comet shaped but bright blue, like a neon sign. Joe’s windex eyes fuzz in and out of focus, never quite making out exactly what it is. The fucking government, Joe thinks. Always fucking shit up. 

 

Now, unidentified flying objects are nothing out of the ordinary in Joe’s strange little town. What's new, though, is the reverberating crash that shakes the deck under him. It’s landed in the woods behind his house, not farther than the sections Joe knows like the back of his hand. Honestly, not even that phases him. But his incense falls over because of the crash, dammit. Now there’s ash all over his deck and a crashed UFO in his backyard. Like anything in life, Joe just sets everything back up, watches the smoke again. He probably should be concerned with the crash, but honestly, he’s not slept in days and school’s ripped any shred of coherent thought from his mind. 

 

He lets the wind whip past his ears, birds’ caws and trees’ ruffles creating a forest’s symphony. A new part is added to the already full orchestra later on, though. The sound of heavy boots breaking sticks and squishing dried leaves. They crescendo, footsteps nearing the edge of Joe’s back yard. A figure emerges from the wall of underbrush and thick trunks, the sound of steps quickly declining. 

 

Joe doesn’t even sit up. “Dude. What are you doing.”

 

The figure tilts its head to the side. “Can I come join you?” It has a rather masculine voice, a bit raspy. Young. 

 

He literally cannot believe he’s doing this. What even. Why. “Yeah I guess, man.” Joe is a millennial, does anyone expect him to care if he lives or dies?

 

This is far from the weirdest thing that’s happened to him. He’s broken into abandoned asylums (don’t ask), gotten lost in a river in the middle of a forest for hours (don’t ask), and once had a nosebleed while eating someone out (it didn’t end well). So, with Joe’s own lack of self respect and negligence in safety, he calls out, “Wanna watch the stars with me?”

 

As the figure approaches, more details come into Joe’s windex blue focus. “Hey, dude, what are your pronouns?”

 

“Fuck, you’re catching up to us. He/him please.” That same voice speaks, stepping gingerly up the stairs to Joe’s deck. His face comes into focus, and it’s unlike anything Joe’s ever seen before. In real life anyways. 

 

Unusually large hazel eyes, softly glowing blue spots dotting his face like freckles. Everything is more defined, from his cheekbones, to his sharp shoulders, meticulously placed hair and deliberate shirt and jeans. Like a photoshopped movie poster or something. When he blinks, a ring of green light blooms from his irises to the outer corners of his eyes. 

 

“You’re like, so beautiful.” Joe said, not seeing the point in lying to himself. 

 

The new being lays down next to him, back to the wooden platform. “Makes sense. My kind shaped yours for millions of years. We grew up together, really. We’re always just one step ahead.”

 

“God damn man that’s pretty cool-io. Do you have a name? I’m Joe.”

 

He sighs heavily. “Pete.” 

 

A friendly silence falls over them. Stars twinkle above, clouds swirling like fish in a tank. Pete looks at the sky like it’s home. 

 

“It’s beautiful up there, you know? There’s so much inky darkness, yet there’s so much //stuff//. Entire universes and advanced civilizations in nearly every little glowing blot, so unlike any of ours. I hope you get to see it some day.”

 

Joe nods. “Me too, I guess.” He decides not to ask for context. Sometimes, a story is better without it. 

 

“You know, I could kill you with my mind right now, if I wanted to.”

 

“Honestly I don’t think I’d mind.”

 

Pete breathes in and looks over to Joe, an expression of hilarity and sympathy on his starry night face. “Maybe your kind isn’t so different from us after all.”

 

Joe laughs. The incense burns out. “That’s dismal, man.”

 

He falls asleep later on, after conversations of stars and other earths end. He wakes up with a sore back, rolling over on the wooden planks with an “oof”.

 

A note on loose leaf sits beside him, written in a fluorescent ink. “Catch you later :p” A crude drawing of Saturn is engraved in the empty space. 

 

Did Joe just make friends with an alien? Ah, who the fuck cares, he has a standardized test to pass. He’ll figure it all out later.


End file.
